FOOTBALL IS BEST!

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, the third of the four children of Jorge
Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet
manufacturing workshop. On his father's side, he is of Italian and Spanish descent, the great-
grandson of immigrants from the northcentral Adriatic Marche region of Italy and Catalonia, and
on his mother's side, he has primarily Italian ancestry. Growing up in a tight-knit, football-loving
family, "Leo" developed a passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his
older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both
of whom became professional footballers. At the age of four he joined local club Grandoli,
where he was coached by his father, though his earliest influence as a player came from his
maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches. He was greatly
affected by her death, shortly before his eleventh birthday; since then, as a devout Catholic, he
has celebrated his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in tribute of his grandmother.

An Argentine international, Messi is his country's all-time leading goalscorer. At youth level, he
won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the tournament with both the Golden
Ball and Golden Shoe, and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His style of
play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with his compatriot Diego
Maradona, who described Messi as his successor. After his senior debut in August 2005, Messi
became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup during the 2006 edition,
and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the
tournament. As the squad's captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive
finals: the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016
Copas América. After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision
and led his country to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and a third-place finish at
the 2019 Copa América.

DANIEL STOJCHEVSKI,IX-B,NUMBER 21